Far Off by Favell Lee Mortimer
page 12 of 243 (04%)
page 12 of 243 (04%)
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off both Jews and Christians.
Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this mosque. There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they are part of their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their Sabbath (which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the stones. There they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in the dust, and repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old stones: because they think that all prayers whispered between the cracks and crevices of these stones will be heard by God. Some Jewesses come, wrapped from head to foot in long white veils, and they gently moan and softly sigh over Jerusalem in ruins. What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the sight of it makes the Jews weep. But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there--and Greeks too: and they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce quarrels. That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre." It is pretended that Christ's tomb or sepulchre is in it. Turks stand at the door and make Christians pay money before they will let them in. When they enter, what do they see? In one corner a stone seat. "There," say the monks, "Jesus sat when He |
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